Some Great Advice

Since my post about my foot injury and my slight mishap on the Ice, I have been getting so many emails and advice from friends and people I didn't even know. It is really surprised me and I feel much better than what I felt two days ago.

One always read about these professional athletes that have all the expert people in their team who helps with advice and treatment. Well age group athletes also have all these experts helping and sorting out your problems. The only difference is they are not people you see face to face but they are the people you meet via your blog or Twitter.

So many people have given me advice and I appreciate it so much. Below is a link to Dr Larry Creswell's blog. He is a Heart surgeon and also a Triathlete, getting advice from someone like him is priceless. www.athletesheart.blogspot.com

Check out his blog there is much info on there and it's all athlete related.

Another email I received was from Gregg Heller, who has been in the foot industry for more than twenty five years. Below is an copy of the email he send me. I think if I need to tick off the things I do on his list there will be many one half tick.

"Hi Johan …sorry to hear about your PF. As I explained in my tweets I was involved in this business for 25 years. We were industry leaders in North America and one of the first companies to use CAD/CAM technology to make our orthotics. To show how backwards many of these so-called doctors and foot professionals are, we started using the CAD/CAM equipment in 1989 and20 years later 95% of the competition still makes orthotics by hand. Our main marketing effort was holding seminars to tech doctors about the foot …as their base knowledge was very limited. (BTW I’m in Toronto Canada). Feel free to post this info in your Blog …hopefully it will help someone else.

With regard to PF:
Step 1 is to find out what caused the PF to occur.
It is usually caused by trauma (jumping off a chair or deck);
excessive pronation (bio mechanical deficiency …either a rigid high arch or a very flexible flat arch in combination with a short 1st toe) or
‘overuse’ syndrome …running, basketball.
can also be a combo of these.
If this is caused by trauma, the S-T treatments may eliminate the problem permanently.
If the cause is bio mechanical in nature ( over pronation caused by a short first ray (toe)) you need to correct this deficiency with a good orthotic and good footwear
You will need to find a sports injury specialist that understands running and how the orthotic and proper shoe interacts with the foot and the person’s running style
To eliminate the pain in the S-T see below

Our typical protocol for treating PF was as follows. We had a 95% success rate with this methodology where leading Podiatrists typically have success rates of only 70 to 75%
Short-term treatment
Ice several times per day
Do your exercises 2 or 3 times per day
Do the stretches 2 or 3 times per day (Google online for these)
See a Physiotherapist for Ultrasound and laser treatments
Acupuncture can also help
If the pain is persistent and chronic a cortisone shot may help to get rid of the inflammation, however it may also mask the underlying cause of the problem and cause long-term damage. DO NOT get more than 1 shot.
For long-term chronic conditions some surgeons may perform a “fascia release.” This is not a proven treatment, so be wary of this.

Exercises
Sitting on a stool, place a cupful of paperclips and marbles on a hard, smooth floor surface. Pick up the materials with your toes and drop them in the cup
Lay a hand towel on the floor and with your toes grab the towel and slowly bunch it up towards you
You may find more exercises by Googling the topic

Long-term treatment
Orthotics …if in fact you do have a short first ray, the orthotic needs to be ‘full length’ which would include posting under the 1st toe joint to bring the forefoot back into proper alignment
For running buy a good ‘motion control’ shoe. Check with Runners magazine for a list of recommended shoes
Change your running shoes on a regular basis. As the shoe breaks down, pronation will increase and the PF could return
Wear your orthotics in your everyday shoes. Make sure that the shoe provides stable support for the orthotic
Don’t wear bare feet around the house. This will make the PF worse
Wear a sandal with a contoured footbed as your house slipper. I prefer the Mephisto footbed, but the Birkenstock is also good

I hope that this helps!

All the best",

Greg

S-T(short term) L-T(long term)
below is a link to the website.

http://www.bioped.com/conditions/foot_pain.asp?cond=plantar&view=bottom

Thanks again for all the help I really appreciate it and hopefully this two minor hick ups will be something of the past very soon.